Durability, comfort, and compactness are a few of the desirable characteristics of popular and useful seats including lawn and garden seats, seats found on lawn, garden, and agricultural equipment, wheelchairs, golfcarts, and marine vessels such as recreational and fishing boats. Seat durability results primarily from the design and materials used in the seat's construction. Key factors in seat comfort include design and cushioning. Compactness is often the single most significant concern for a marine seat because space, particularly deck space, is generally limited on most marine vessels.
Seats generally fall into the broad categories of compact and uncomfortable, or large and comfortable. Where space is not an issue and comfort is desired, the seat of choice is an upholstered one. However, in many instances, the utilitarian aspects of a seat dictate its compactness, forgoing its comfort.
The problem of marine seat compactness is at least partially solved when the seat is stowable, i.e., removable from its location on, for example, the deck of a boat. However, stowing a seat necessarily means that the seat is relatively unavailable for use and, perhaps more importantly, must be stored elsewhere on the boat. As an alternative to stowable seats, foldable seats offer the advantage that they may be compacted by folding in place when not in use, and thus do not require storage. However, folding seats have relatively hard surfaces and are generally uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time.
A common remedy is to place or temporarily attach a cushion to the horizontal surface of the seat to render it more comfortable. Oftentimes such cushions are ill-fitting and typically do not afford the comfort that an upholstered seat provides. Furthermore, many folding seats unfold into an upright position with the seat back portion moving into contact with the seat base portion. Such foldable seats are disadvantageous for safety reasons, as it is not uncommon for a finger or hand to be pinched between these foldable parts.
While one drawback to the application of upholstery to a foldable seat inevitably lies with balancing the comfort associated with bulkiness of upholstery and the compactness of a foldable seat, perhaps the greatest disadvantage results from the difficulty associated with the process of upholstering a foldable seat. Unlike a traditional static seat, a foldable seat is by its nature relatively dynamic and flexible. Consequently, upholstering a foldable seat requires additional labor skill and time, which are ultimately reflected in the product's cost. The general difficulty of upholstering a foldable seat coupled with the fact that the seat is fixed, such as on a marine vessel, further adds to the complexity of maintaining and inevitably repairing an upholstered seat.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a durable, affordable, easily manufactured and repaired seat that offers the advantages of compactness of a foldable seat without the safety concerns of traditional foldable seats and the comfort and aesthetic advantages of an upholstered seat. The present invention seeks to fulfill these needs and provides further related advantages.